Pirate Bay ban verdict to be appealed by copyright holders

A recent and significant win in court for the Pirate Bay will face an appeal as media companies stay determined to have the torrent site blocked everywhere they can.

On Friday, the Diustrict Court of Stockholm refused to order ISP Bredbandsbolaget to block access to the Pirate Bay website. The block had been sought by entertainment and media companies that have been fighting to get rid of the Pirate Bay for more than a decade.

Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, Nordisk Film and the Swedish Film Industry wanted the court to force the Swedish Internet service provider to block access to the site and asserted that failing to do so bestowed culpability on the ISP for copyright infringement committed by subscribers.

There are similar blocks either already in effect or coming soon in most European countries now.

The loss in Sweden came as a shock to the copyright holders however, given that the block campaign has been successfully implemented almost everywhere else in Europe, and Sweden is the home of the notorious Pirate Bay.

The decision was unanimous however. "A unanimous District Court considers, therefore, that it is not in a position to authorize such a ban as the rights holders want and therefore rejects their request," said presiding Chief Magistrate Anders Dereborg.

Per Strömbäck of FTVS, which is an umbrella organization behind the legal action in Sweden, described the decision as a serious failing for the Swedish judicial system, and that the group will go ahead and appeal.

"Similar legislation already exists in the rest of Scandinavia as well as in much of Europe. We will appeal."

The judicial system in the Nordic countries which includes Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland is in many ways different from the other major systems, the Great Britain/North American judiciary that hails back to the Magna Carta of the middle ages and the French judiciary. Unlike the Magna Carta which for the most part was formulated to protect property (i.e. protect the feudal lords, ladies and nobless from the angry mobs and dissatisfied serfs), the Nordic laws originated in the Allthing of Iceland in the 11th century and are remarkably progressive even by today's standards. North American companies, like those trying to shoot down pirate bay are discovering the hard way that there are places in the world, like Sweden, where property rights and the rights of wealthy corporations are not the first priority of the courts, which instead emphasize justice and common sense. So good on piratebay and the Swedish judiciary and blooey phooey to the slanteye execs at Sony.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 04 Dec 2015 @ 5:37